Neve Zedek Window

I haven't had too much time for photography the past few months but for the sake of both my muse and my sanity it's high time to MAKE the time, so yesterday when I found myself with a few hours free I grabbed my camera and my car keys and headed into Tel Aviv for a walk around one of my very favorite neighborhoods. Neve Zedek is a study in contradictions - old and decrepit, new and gentrified beyond the price range of mere mortals, sparkling new residential towers full of glass and curved lines (which would look fabulous in a more modern neighborhood but are sinfully out of place in this one).

Here's a glimpse of the older side of the neighborhood - look fast, it probably won't last much longer...

Supermoon - and a super-proud mama

First there was the supermoon...

And then there were the super-proud parents when this super-kid graduated from 6th grade last night. He's turning into a wonderful young man before our very eyes and we couldn't be more proud. Next stop, junior high! (Well, after a fun-filled summer in New Hampshire first that is. Can't rush through summer vacation...)

The shirt he's wearing is a commemorative t-shirt given to all the kids in the grade for their graduation ceremony. Israelis don't go in for button-downs and ties, even for special occasions :).

Happy end of the school year / beginning of summer everyone!

Orchid

Not only is it not at all dead, it has FOUR, count 'em FOUR flowers this year! Yay me!

Tap tap tap... Is this thing on?

So, uhh, ummm... How exactly does one come back from having forgotten to blog for 3.5 months? It wasn't even a conscious decision, it just sort of happened, and then the longer I was away the harder it was to come back.

Everything's fine, I was just crazy busy with work and I guess I sort of lost my blogging mojo. Let's try again and see if it comes back. I'm game if you are. Assuming of course that there's anyone still out there after all this time. Is there? Are you?

So where have I been? Well, there was a trip to Provence with my husband way back in April. It was wonderful, everything a trip to France should be despite the fairly lousy weather. One of our hosts told us we're not crazy for thinking that it rains in Europe every single Passover/Easter week - it really does. Sort of the way it always rains on Purim here in Israel. Still, you really can't go far wrong in France, whatever the weather. Don't you agree?

Les Baux de Provence

Cassis Harbor

Van Gogh's Courtyard in St Remy

Goat cheese for sale at the Cassis weekly market

After France there was the usual flurry of spring - getting out into nature, our annual trip to the folk festival, the beach, the pool, and so much more, but I'll save some of those for another post.

Right now we're in the midst of the annual end of year insanity - an elementary school graduation, end of the year sports events, all the birthday parties for all of the kids with summer birthdays - you name it, it's probably happening. It's all good, but more than a little exhausting to keep sorted. It's a good thing I've only got two kids and two adults to keep track of - any more and someone would be leaving the house without their underwear for sure.

So that's me in a nutshell, with a few photos thrown in for fun. What have you all been up to these past few months?

Lupine Hill

Israel's lupines are in full bloom right now, and they are glorious.

View this image in my Etsy shop

Election Day 2013, Tel Aviv Style

Vote in the morning, then hit the beach. (No, it wasn't really warm enough to swim, though that didn't stop the rest of the family from going in for a bit. Their far more sensible mother was wearing long pants and a sweatshirt. Still, not too shabby for January...) (and yes, I'm that far behind in my blogging. Life, and an epic case of the flu which knocked us all over like a bunch of feverish dominoes, happened.)

Wild Anemone, January 2013

Winter here in Israel means wildflowers, and one of the most prolific and best loved are the anemones, most often seen in a rich, vibrant shade of red.

Wild Anemone, Elad Forest, January 2013

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Oleander

Bring some fresh spring color into your winter blahs - here in the Eastern Mediterranean the oleander is in full bloom! This one is blooming on a tree (bush?) in Cyprus - and on a variety of throw pillows, phone cases and prints as well ;).

So what reds are popping up in your world this week?

Over the Horizon

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Makes a fantastic phone case and throw pillow too ;).

Visit Skywatch Friday for more fantastic skies from around the world.

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Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

Click here to see this image in my Society6 shop.

Sea glass and shell collected on the beach in Caesaria, on Israel's Mediterranean coast.

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Where on earth...

... has Robin been?

View this image as a framed print in my Society6 shop

We took the kids and headed off to the nearby island of Cyprus for a much needed Hannukah getaway! Just a 40 minute flight away (a wow in and of itself!) the weather was pretty much identical to that of Israel - some days were gorgeous, some days it stormed all day, and once up in the high mountains we even saw snow, to the utter amazement of my Israeli kids - much less so to their American-Israeli parents who had to drive the tiny, windy, rock-strewn slippery mountain roads in it... Driving adventures aside though it was a fantastic trip. We saw quaint villages, hiked up green mountains, saw modern cities, beautiful beaches, ancient ruins, Byzantine churches and goats galore, and so much more. Far more in fact than I'd dreamed was there, even in the off-season - we're already plotting our next trip.

This particular image, conveniently offering both a quaint window and a few red roof tiles lying on the stairs (a future renovation? a past one?) was taken in the wonderfully picturesque village of Omodos, in the Troodos Mountains. Famous for lace and the oddest carob-flavored breadsticks I've ever tasted. I've heard the views from the village are also lovely but with the weather that day we didn't see much of them. Next time...

In the meantime, visit my Facebook page and Society6 shop for more images from Cyprus (with more to come shortly).

On a return to normalcy

There was a bit of a war here the other week. You might have heard something about it. What you didn't hear was anything about it on my blog. I was obsessively watching the news, checking Facebook, posting all sorts of links, articles and updates on my own Facebook page, and trying to actually get some work done with one ear half-cocked to listen for the sirens. Blogging pretty photos just didn't seem to fit into the picture.

The thing is, the war didn't exactly reach my city. Just a few miles outside of Tel Aviv, we were close enough to hear the boom of the Iron Dome anti-rocket batteries as their missiles did their job to stop the deadly Hamas rockets from getting through, but far enough away that the sirens didn't reach us. While hundreds of thousands of people in the south sat in bomb shelters, while my husband and son had to stand by the side of the road when the sirens went off in Tel Aviv (yes, they should have laid down, they didn't), life here in our little bubble went on. Kids had school, after-school activities were still on (don't mind the booms, kids, that's just the Iron Dome and it's far away, at least 8 or 10 miles from here...), I was still expected to produce respectable deliverables for my job, but at the same time it became all-consuming. The war hadn't come this close before, and it was a week of wondering if the next red alert notification on the radio would be for us. If the whine of the jet engines from the planes temporarily rerouted to the north (and straight over my house) was just that, or was it the first whine of a siren.

It's been nearly a week since it ended now, and the ceasefire appears to be holding, and life has returned to what passes for normal in this little corner of the world.

And it finally feels right to begin blogging again, adding my own little bit of normalcy back into the equation with this image of a still proudly standing Tel Aviv. Still here, still thriving, still full of life.

Pomegranates

Pomegranates for sale at Jerusalem's Machaneh Yehuda market.

See products featuring this image in my Society6 shop

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Scavenger Hunt in Jerusalem's Nachlaot Neighborhood

What fun! This past Friday I had the opportunity to join another of Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts' wonderful events - this time for a scavenger hunt in Jerusalem's fascinating Nachlaot neighborhood.

Just like the Old City scavenger hunt I participated in last year Tali and her crew had everything very well organized from start to finish so that all we had to do was relax and enjoy. (So much so that yet again we came in, ummm, not first. Right. Let's go with "not first". It was totally worth our ever so slightly more relaxed pace though - we got to see so many amazing details and learn so many things we'd have missed if we were really cranking up the speed...)  Tali even arranged for the oh so yummy Village Green restaurant to provide bowls of hot delicious soup and freshly baked rolls for us all at the finish line.

 More scenes from the neighborhood...

Two area residents discussing the issues of the day

Window turned wall

I absolutely love this mural (above and below images) by Maayan Fogel, simply amazing

 
I can't recommend Tali and Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts enough (and not just because I just found a photo of myself with Old City teammates Lisa and Myriam in their photo gallery) - having now done two of their hunts my only real question is when is she accepting participants for the new route she'll soon be opening in Jerusalem's Yemin Moshe neighborhood! (In fact, we'll be hosting a bar mitzvah in the family next winter and I'm already planning to arrange a scavenger hunt as one of our key "where to take the visiting relatives" events!)

Thanks again Tali for another terrific time!

She sells seashells

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Still life with seashells collected on the beach in Caesaria, Israel.

This image is available in a variety of formats in my Society6 shop, and free shipping throughout my shop (on everything except framed prints and canvases, and yes, that includes international shipping too) through Sunday 28 Oct makes this a great time to get a jump start on your holiday shopping.
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Glass Mosaic iPhone Case

Looking for an excuse to treat yourself or to get a jump start on your holiday shopping? Now is a great time to do it with free shipping WORLDWIDE (yes, FREE international shipping) on all the cases, greeting cards, totes, fine art prints and skins in my Society6 shop. 

Like this iPhone case featuring a closeup photograph of the glass mosaic tiles on a Jerusalem sculpture. Isn't that wild? To me, the photograph is so realistic looking that I almost feel I can see myself in the little bits of mirror...

 

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Olives for Sale

Olives on sale in Jerusalem's Machaneh Yehuda market

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In every grain of sand...

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I created this Photoverse print from a photograph I took on the beach at Israel's Caesaria National Park. It's available from Around the Island Photography as an art print, stretched canvas, iPhone case, tote bag (brand new!) and more.
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Stomach flu...

... is kicking my butt (not to mention my stomach).

Will be back soon. I hope.

The most noble and challenging of fruits

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(Grapes are) the most noble and challenging of fruits. 

 -Malcolm Dunn, Head Gardener to the 7th Viscount Powerscourt, c 1867.

Purchase this image from Around the Island Photography